HASC panel says DoD acquisition process for IT is broken

An interim report by a House Armed Services Committee panel slams the Defense Department acquisition process, especially when it comes to information technology.

IT requirements are too specific and testing is integrated too late--testing under realistic conditions is deferred until the mandated operational test, says the House Panel on Defense Acquisition Reform. The interim report also notes that the DoD uses the waterfall model of software development; no wonder things aren't good.

Defense IT systems typically take 48 to 60 months to deliver, a time frame that ensures the technology is two to three generations out of date by the time it's delivered. IT also plays a heavy role in weapons systems; whereas the F-4 has just 8 percent of its functions performed by software, the F-22 relies on software to perform 80 percent of its functions.

The committee is hardly the first to recognize that Defense's IT acquisition processes need changing. In fact, the fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill instructs the Pentagon to come up with an alternative process for acquiring IT.

The committee makes recommendations for what that alternative process should include, such as:

• An open architecture that allows hardware and software to be integrated in a plug-and-play fashion;
• Alternative milestones, even if they involve substantial revisions to laws such as the Federal Information Security Management Act and Clinger-Cohen;
• Merging developmental and operational testing in parallel with a greater number of small tests and closer cooperation between the test and operational communities;
• Possibly creation of acquisition workforce cadres dedicated to IT procurement;
• More upfront market analysis.

For more:
- see the interim report (.pdf)

Related Article:
Spotlight: DoD should try smaller IT projects